


Fire

by diduforget123



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Explicit Language, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Homophobia, Homophobic Language, M/M, So do Chans, Vernons parent suck
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-18
Updated: 2019-08-18
Packaged: 2020-09-06 22:47:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,341
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20299183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/diduforget123/pseuds/diduforget123
Summary: Sometimes your life burns to the ground.Desolate. Destroyed.But, there is always going to be something new that grows in its wake.The start of a new life.





	Fire

**Author's Note:**

> Big thanks to my Beta reader fam Michelle ;D <3

When the plane touched down on the ground, Vernon felt a sense of dread plague him. This damn city was never a source of any good memories; it was only a source of pain that he was taught to learn from, taught to cope with. The plane seemed way too hot, way too humid, the surrounding people emanating way too much positive emotion for his liking. As much as he hated the city, he knew he had to pass through it, swallow the pain of the memories in order to reach the ones he truly longed to remember. As he exited the plane, he felt even more heat wash over him, the change in weather not welcomed but unfortunately there. Thankfully, the airport had air conditioning, making the walk to the baggage claim seem slightly more bearable. Although getting the bag itself wasn't going to be much of a hassle for himself, it was what came after it that would be the most troubling part.

As he waited near the conveyor belt for his bag, Vernon glanced outside the windows of the terminal, scanning the lines of cars waiting for their loved ones parked outside. When his eyes spotted the small, blue Honda parked in the line he felt his heart ache. All the memories, all the pain came flooding back to him. He quickly ripped his eyes away from the car and turned back towards the conveyor belt, part of him wishing and praying it would take its time, or that it wouldn’t come at all. He just wanted to get home. 

Unfortunately, the bag came not long after, burning his prayers to ash. He lugged the bag off the belt and hesitantly turned around. He knew he had to do this. It was just one car ride. He could do it. He had to do it for him.

Vernon walked outside very slowly and approached that damn blue car. As he got closer, he saw the figure sitting inside, her face being slightly illuminated by the light coming from her phone. She glanced outside the passenger window and caught his eyesight, her expression softened, somewhat holding a sense of happiness in them, but he knew. He knew that even though she was smiling on the outside, her heart held hatred for him. It always has.

It always would. 

-

_ It was around the age of 13 when Vernon realized he was gay. Many people may say that it's too young to know who you prefer, who you want, but they are wrong because it only takes one person, even at a young age, for one to know who they are interested in. Vernon had known from the beginning he never was interested in girls, never interested in their bodies or their cuteness or their sexiness. He knew, however, that boys—some really cute, others really sexy—were the ones that appealed to him. But his parents didn’t like that._

_ He was sixteen when he told his parents he liked boys. He was sixteen when he realized his parents didn’t understand his views. He was sixteen when his father hit him. He was sixteen when his father threw him out. He was sixteen when his mother hugged him goodbye, the disappointment in her eyes ever so clear._

_ Vernon was sixteen when he realized he was all alone. _

-

His mother stepped out of the car and hurriedly came over to hug her son. Vernon let go of his bag, slow to return her embrace. He knew it was forced, but he did it anyways. He did it because even after all the pain his parents brought him, even after all the harsh words and conversations, he still loved them. And maybe that’s why he agreed to take the ride from his mother. Because he still loved them after everything they did to him, everything they said to him, everything they did to his husband, trying in every way possible to hurt them. After everything, he cursed his heart for still holding on, but he knew that it was just a shitty side-effect of the imperfection that human beings were born with. He knew not every memory in this city wasn’t painful, but it was the pain he felt that overtook everything else, it wrapped its darkness around all the light until nothing good shined. 

When his mother finally let go she took a step back and just looked at him, scanning him, maybe hoping that he was somehow different, after all this time maybe somehow, he changed. Her eyes cast down, staring at the silver band that lay on his ring finger, and just like that, he could see that small amount of happiness leave her eyes. She quietly turned away from him to get into the driver side of the car, and he knew she was disgusted and disappointed; he didn’t need to see her face to know that. Vernon sadly opened the trunk and hauled his bag into the back before slamming the trunk shut. Part of him knew he shouldn't be angry with her for her reaction, but the other part of him knew that he should be angry because his mother could never get over the hatred to see the love.

Vernon silently walked to the passenger side and got into the car, trying his best not to make eye contact with his mother. She pulled out of the waiting lane with ease and began to head toward home. His home. 

-

_ When Vernon was seventeen he met Minghao and Seungkwan. Both of them were already best friends with each other but when they both met Vernon it didn’t take long for either of them to get closely acquainted with him. Soon after their meeting, their duo became a trio. Vernon was seventeen when he realized he wasn’t as alone as he thought he was._

_ He was seventeen when Minghao asked Vernon to move in with him. Vernon paid his half of the rent with a part time job at a convenience store down the street, working from late at night to early in the morning. Up until college, Vernon lived with Minghao, relishing in the love and support that his friend gave him, along with Seungkwan._

_ He was eighteen when he got accepted to college and moved a state away to get his degree, never looking back. _

-

Vernon looked out the window of the car, watching the buildings, slightly illuminated by the street lights, pass by. He could tell you about almost every one of these buildings. He could tell you about the countless times he passed them, the countless times he had been to some of them, how he remembered them, but he didn't want to remember. 

-

When they finally began leaving the city, Vernon looked behind him. The city was ash to him. A burning flame that was put out when he left ten years ago, leaving nothing but the scattered memories that he didn't want anything to do with. With each passing second, the illuminated city got smaller. Soon, the light diminished, until nothing showed, plunging then into the darkness of the night. 

-

When they were about halfway to their destination, they were halted to a stop. A line of cars moved slowly in front of them. It wasn’t until they reached a nearby gas station, the only ‘safe’ gas station on the road, did they realize that the highway was closed.

"Shit," his mother cursed ever so quietly, "looks like a car accident has the whole highway blocked."

"Great." He said unenthusiastically, sighing as they pulled into the gas station parking lot.

His mother pulled up to one of the pumps and instructed him to go get them waters from inside the station's store. As he walked towards the store he noticed a sheriff parked in front, leaning against his car speaking with someone. He guessed it was about the road closure.

"...it was a really bad crash, car was up in flames, the road should be closed for at least a few more hours."

He inwardly groaned. 

_ Great. A few more hours of unending awkward silence and hatred. Lovely. _

He begrudgingly walked inside the store and bought them each a water bottle before heading back to the car. When he got back inside, she gave him a small thanks before quickly opening and chugging down most of her water. He waited for her to finish before even beginning to speak to her.

"I heard from the sheriff hanging outside the store that the roads should be closed for at least a good few hours, is there another route we could take?"

She hummed in acknowledgement. "There is a back road if you turn right when exiting the gas station. It may take an extra hour, but it beats waiting a few hours."

Vernon agreed and then buckled up. "Let's hit the road" he said dryly. Oh, he hoped he would make it out alive after these next two hours.

\- 

_ Vernon was eighteen when he met Chan._

_ Now you could definitely say that the beginning of their story was totally cliché, because it was. Their meeting was when they both entered in their shared dorm room. Yep- it’s one of those cliches. When they first met, they hated each other. A lot. Almost to the point where they would make sure never to be back in the dorm at the same time as the other, but when Chan came back one day to find Vernon a drunk, crying mess on their dorm floor, that was when their relationship began. After spilling almost everything to his roommate about his life, his job, his past memories, and what he had felt like then, Chan saw that he was not as bad as he had thought when he first met him, and he could see that he was a good person who just needed another good friend (or more)._

_ After that, both of them would spend most of their time with each other and confide in each other with everything. Well, almost everything._

_ Vernon was eighteen when he developed his first real crush._

_ He was nineteen when he asked Chan out._

_ He was twenty three when he proposed to Chan on the same night Chan planned to propose to him._

_ Vernon was twenty four when he and Chan finally got married. _

-

The first few minutes of the car ride were surprisingly not silent. It seemed that having realized she would be stuck in a car with her gay son for two hours made it a little bit more appealing to talk. She asked him how his producing was going and what it was like working with big artists in other countries. For the first time in years, he was actually having a good conversation with his mother.

When he asked about his father, she seemed a little bit hesitant to say anything but ended up telling him how he was doing. Apparently, he had been doing very well lately with work, getting a lot of clients and taking on large orders from grander companies, earning him more money. After she told him that, she grew silent once again. Vernon knew that normally when she went quiet after a question like that, then it meant that she was deep in thought about something. In this scenario, he was guessing that it wasn’t particularly a good topic.

“So, how is your…” she began, pausing for a brief moment in thought, looking for the right word, “_ partner _?”

Vernon felt his jaw clench at the venom in her last word. He knew that for her, saying the word ‘husband’ would be too much, too disgusting.

“My _ husband _is doing just fine, considering the situation we are in,” He replied steadily, enunciating “husband” ever so harshly to make sure she got it through her head who Chan was.

“I can’t believe he was okay with you going away for so long; if I were him I would have left you.”

Vernon chuckled bitterly.

“I know you don’t want us together, but come on—who would leave their spouse over something like _ that _ ? Because I know _ damn _ well if Dad did something like that, you would support him one hundred percent ; heck, you would probably go with him. So, don’t bullshit me with your ‘ _ If it were me’ _ scenario, because it’s just another excuse for you to get away with being a terrible human.”

She began to open her mouth, like she wanted to say something back, but she quickly shut it.

He quietly looked out the window before reaching down to grab his earbuds out of his bag, plugging them into his phone. Vernon stared at the screen; it was a photo of him and Chan on their honeymoon, laughing, and enjoying their time together on a beach in the Bahamas. He sighed and opened his music player, putting in his earbuds. After this trip, Vernon would be ready to cut off ties with his family, something he knew that he should’ve done years ago, but he had given them too many chances to try and come around to change, too many chances to finally accept how the world was. They never even bothered to try. It was for the best, for himself, for his mental wellbeing, and for his life. Maybe one day, _ one day _, they would finally get it, but that was just wishful thinking. Soon, he let the beat of the soft music lull him to sleep.

-

_ A little bit after Vernon and Chan got married, Chan was contacted by a random number while working a late shift at his dance studio. At first, Chan thought that it was one of those scam numbers, so he simply didn’t answer. But after awhile the same number kept calling and calling, so he answered it. _

_ “Hello?”_

_ “Hello, is this Lee Chan?”_

_ “Yes, this is Chan, may I ask who is calling?”_

_ “You know, for a good for nothing faggot, you seem to be very polite.”_

_ “Excuse me?”_

_ “You heard me. I came to call on behalf of my son who was obviously brainwashed by the likes of your disgusting kind.”_

_ “Y-you're Vernon’s father?”_

_ “Don’t you dare speak my son’s name you filthy excuse of a human.”_

_ Chan flinched at the name, not knowing exactly how to reply._

_ “If you knew what was good for you and for that precious studio you own, you would stay away from my son.”_

_ He froze. His studio? He knew about his studio? What did he mean?_

_ “Are- Are you threatening me?”_

_ “Not a threat _ _ —a _ _ warning. Just stay away from my son, and you won’t find out what happens if you don’t heed the warning, boy.” And with that, Vernon’s father hung up._

_ Chan didn’t know what to do, didn’t know what to think, didn’t know how was he going to tell Ver- No. He couldn’t tell Vernon. He could find a way to handle this himself. Vernon had been rid of his parents for years now, Chan wasn’t going to put this on him now._

_ So, he kept quiet._

_ He didn’t keep his distance from Vernon._

_ And one day, he found out what that warning meant._

_ It was two weeks after the phone call and Chan hadn’t heard anything more from Vernon’s psycho father _ _ — _ _ in fact, he had even forgotten about it (although that small fear of something happening lingered in the back of his mind). But it turns out that was a mistake. As he approached his dance studio in the morning, he noticed a bunch of whispers and looks being tossed his way as he walked down the sidewalk. It seemed a little unusual, yes, but nothing too much out of the ordinary. It wasn’t until he rounded the corner that he saw what they were talking about. His studio, his place of peace, his entirety, was vandalized. The windows in the front were smashed, the door was kicked in, and there were obscene words spray painted on the inside. _

_ Chan felt the tears prick at the corners of his eyes as he began to full on sprint towards the building, throwing his bag down on the sidewalk and quickly pulling out his phone to call the police. _

_ He spoke with the operator who told him that an officer would be there right away and that he shouldn’t touch anything on the inside. This was the warning. This was what he meant. He sucked in a breath before shakily looking through his contacts, hesitating ever so slightly before clicking on his husband’s contact name and calling him. It rang a few times and Chan started to think that he wasn’t going to pick up at all until the ringing stopped and a voice came through the speaker. _

_ “Hey babe, what’s up?”_

_ As soon as Chan heard his voice, he broke down into tears._

_ “Channie? Chan-ah? What’s wrong? What happened?! Are you alrig-“_

_ “I n-need you to c-c-come down to the s-studio,” Chan hiccupped, barely able to get his words out._

_ There was some crashing on the other side of the line and what sounded like a curse word before Vernon answered again. “I’m coming. Can you tell me what happened, Chan-ah?” He shook his head, even though Vernon couldn’t see it. “Come on Chan, I need you to talk to me.”_

_ At that moment, the younger could hear the faint sound of a siren in the distance and he blanked out until the cop car pulled up in front of his studio. The officer stepped out of his car and muttered a low “Jesus Christ” before walking over to Chan. _

_“Chan?”_

_ “I- I- the police officer is here, Solie… I’ll tell you w-when you get here”_

_ “Wait! Police wha-“ Chan hung up on him before he could finish._

_ When Vernon did get there, he was shocked to see the sight that laid before him: Chan’s studio, vandalized, and Chan standing in front of the doors, crying out words to the policemen in front of him while another officer comforted him. _

_“Chan-ah!” he yelled and quickly ran towards the other._

_ Chan turned his head away from the officer and looked at Vernon, tears filling up his eyes as he choked out a sob and ran into his husbands’ arms. Vernon quietly whispered reassuring phrases to Chan while watching his own surroundings. He narrowed his eyes as he watched the officers walk into the studio before coming back out shortly, except this time with a small piece of paper in hand. One officer walked back to the car and grab something out of it before returning to the other. The officers then walked over to the couple and held up a plastic bag with a small piece of paper inside it, words large enough to see with blaring ease. _ ** _I warned you, faggot._ **

_ “This, sir, was found inside on the floor of the window earlier. We wanted to investigate it earlier but we were preoccupied with filing a report with your husband.”_

_ “Officer do you have any idea who did this?”_

_ The officer chuckled, taking Vernon aback. “We know exactly who did it.”_

_ He blinked. “What?”_

_ “Yep. Your husband knew exactly who did it when he told us. The threat that he received two weeks ago made a lot of sense with what happened today. We plan to investigate some of the nearby cameras just to make sure, but we are pretty positive we got our guy.”_

_ What the fuck? Threat? What threat? What the actual hell?_

_ “What was this guy’s name, if I may ask?”_

_ The officer brought out his notepad and scanned the page before looking right at Vernon._

_ “ Chwe Hyunsuk.”_

_ His heart stopped._

_ What?_

_ His own father… had done this?_

_ To his husband?_

_ To him?_

_ “Thank you officer, for all your help. Can you please contact me when you have found out exactly who did this?”_

_ “Of course, and don’t forget to file this report to your insurance so that the building repairs get covered. Have a good day guys, I’m sorry this happened to you.” And with that the officers got into their car and drove away. _

_ … _

_ It was a long few hours after the police had left. It had almost taken an hour for Vernon to calm down Chan, coaxing him in the best way he could so that they could finally go home. When they did get home, Chan just sat down on the couch and continued to cry some more. The latter sighed and sat down next to his husband and comforted him for a couple hours more before, finally, getting him to open up. _

_ “Are you going to tell me what happened, Channie?”_

_ The smaller shook his head slightly. “I-I can’t…. He-“ Vernon cut him off._

_ “He can’t hurt you and he can’t hurt me, not as long as I’m alive.” Vernon tilted his husbands chin so he was looking at him. “Tell me what happened, my love.”_

_ And so, Chan told him everything that had occurred, not leaving out a single detail._

_ Vernon was twenty-five years old when the most enraging experience of his life happened. Vernon was also twenty-five when he realized that Chan and his friends were the only real family he had in his life._

_ -_

Vernon’s slumber was promptly interrupted when he felt a hand shake his shoulder. He quickly took his earbuds off and looked out the window. They were at his apartment complex. Soundlessly, Vernon undid his seatbelt and slid out of the car, swiftly making his way to the back and opening the trunk. Once he had pulled the suitcases out of the trunk and had set them on the sidewalk, he made sure to spare his mother one last glance. Her face was saddened but it was also distant.

“You know I’m always here for you, don’t you?” She asked him, her eyes cast toward the ground.

He knew she didn’t mean it. She didn’t mean it fully. It would never be a whole-souled promise. “Look me in the eyes and tell me that you will be there for me for everything”

She stared at him for a few moments, her lips tightening. “Everything?”

“Everything.”

His mother crossed her arms and looked to the side. “I will be there for you for _ everything _.”

“Look me _ in my eyes _ and tell me that.”

She sucked in a breath and shook her head. “I can’t do it.”

Vernon chuckled bitterly and pulled up the handle to his suitcase and reached down to sling his backpack over his shoulder. He looked at her for a few moments, watching her as she stood awkwardly in the quietness of the night.

“Goodbye _ mother, _ I hope you have a safe trip back. _ ” _ He turned around and walked away.

He would never understand her, or understand the beliefs she had, but he knew he didn’t care. Not anymore.

-

After walking up an unfortunate flight of stairs with two suitcases, Vernon was standing right in front of his apartment door. It was late and he knew that his coming home might cause alarm for Chan but it was fine, Chan would live. He fished out his house key from his backpack and stealthily opened the door. With much struggle, he pulled the suitcases into the foyer and silently shut the door behind him. The older peered around the corner to see if his husband was doing one of his late night TV binge watching but there was no one there. Vernon slipped off his shoes and ventured off to find his husband, not caring about the two suitcases by the door—he could get those later. Their apartment was by no means big but it was decently sized with as many rooms as it had, so finding his husband wouldn’t be too hard. He searched through every room of the place, but Chan was nowhere to be seen. Vernon sighed. There was only one other place that he knew the other would be. 

While making his way towards the balcony door he noticed a figure sitting on the other side of it, their shape slightly outlined by what seemed to be light from a phone screen. Suddenly, he heard a ping from his own phone.

**From Chwe Channie ♥️**

**1:31am**

Hi babe, how are you?

**To Chwe Channie ♥️**

**1:32am**

Just great my love

What are you still doing up?

**From Chwe Channie ♥️**

**1:32am**

Oh you know

Just the usual

Missing you

…

A lot :(

**To Chwe Channie ♥️**

**1:35am**

I know my love

But I promise I will be home soon

Vernon chuckled as he stood before the doors. He heard his phone go off again and looked down at it.

**From Chwe Channie ♥️**

**1:40am**

But how long? :(

He smiled and stuffed his phone inside his pocket, placing his hand on the door handle. 

This was it.

He opened up the balcony door and chuckled at the sight of Chan sitting in one of their chairs, a blanket thrown around his shoulders, phone in hand. Surprisingly, the other hadn’t noticed his presence so the older decided to lean down and wrap his arms around his partner.

Chan screeched.

“What the fuc-”

“I told you I would be home soon, my love,” Vernon whispered into Chan’s ear, causing the other to go completely still in his arms.

“Vernonie…?”

“Hi baby.”

Chan choked on a sob and turned around to launch himself into Vernon’s arms. Vernon stumbled backwards, steadying himself against the other door while holding Chan in a tight embrace.

“I missed you so much,” the other said between sobs, his crying causing tears to form in Vernon’s own eyes.

“I missed you too Chan-ah…”

They stayed like this, just basking in each other’s presence.

There was nothing more that Vernon needed than Chan. 

Life had been nothing but hard for both of them. Life left them with countless terrible memories and painful scars, but they were each other’s new start. Chan was Vernon’s new start.

He was his home.

**Author's Note:**

> Oof 
> 
> I hope you guys enjoyed this story hehehe  
HMU on twitter @LeeChanIsAKIng


End file.
